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EDITORIAL article

Front. Public Health, 04 July 2023
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
This article is part of the Research Topic Pesticides Exposure and Public Health View all 5 articles

Editorial: Pesticides exposure and public health

  • 1Department of Public Health, Canadian University Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  • 2Environmental and Public Health Department, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
  • 3College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Institute of Public Health, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Editorial on the Research Topic
Pesticides exposure and public health

The rapid increase in the world population has resulted in boosting the demand for food supply and agricultural food products coupled with an intensification of pesticides applications. At the global level, pesticides applications have increased by more than 50% between 1990 and 2010 (1). The total pesticides trade was estimated to be around 5.9 million tons in 2019, which accounts for around 35.5 billion US dollars (1). Thus, pesticides use is expected to double in the next 10 years in developing countries (2). This increase will raise the alarm over the dangers of pesticides and there will be a need to address pesticide safety in developing countries.

The widespread use of pesticides in agricultural and domestic settings is a serious threat to the environment and public health. The effects of excessive and inappropriate uses of pesticides on the environment and human health are recognized worldwide (14). Due to their persistent nature, pesticides remain in the environment for a long period and gradually enter food systems (4). Exposure to pesticides occur via different environmental media such as air, water, soil, and food and can result in both acute and chronic effects. Acute toxic effects follow poisoning by pesticides and include nausea, headaches, dizziness, skin and eye irritation, muscle paralysis, and respiratory failure. Chronic health effects include allergic reactions, impaired immune, endocrine, and reproductive functions, liver damage, peripheral neuropathies, neurobehavioral disorders, and cancers (2, 4, 5). Every year, more than three million poisoning cases, 220,000 deaths, and 750,000 chronic illnesses are caused by pesticides use, moslty in developing countries (2).

The current state of environmental degradation caused by pesticides and the associated health effects are not well understood given the diversity, complex nature, toxicity, bioaccumulation, mobility, and persistence of pesticides in the environment (1, 5). Thus, there is an urgent need to understand the occurrence and fate of pesticides in the environment to explore the health effects associated with exposure to pesticides and monitor and evaluate such risks. This will aid in finding sustainable and innovative strategies for pesticides management and remediation and informing policymakers on the most appropriate approaches to minimize pesticide exposure and their adverse health effects.

This Research Topic highlights the recent developments in the field of pesticides and provides evidence on the effects of pesticides exposure on human health. Our Research Topic includes two original research studies and two systematic reviews that explore the mechanisms of action of pesticides and associated health effects, biological monitoring and risk assessment of exposure to pesticides residues, and possible approaches and remedial measures for improved and safer use of pesticides. The original research studies highlight pesticides applications in the occupational setting in Ethiopia and China. The systematic reviews focus on the health effects of pesticides and the importance of validated analytical methods to detect and quantify pesticides residues in food.

Author contributions

SI has drafted the editorial. AT, NA, and IE have revised it for important intellectual content. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

References

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2. Tudi M, Li H, Li H, Wang L, Lyu J, Yang L, et al. Exposure routes and health risks associated with pesticide application. Toxics. (2022) 10:335. doi: 10.3390/toxics10060335

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4. Umapathi R, Park B, Sonwal S, Rani GM, Cho Y, Huh YS. Advances in optical-sensing strategies for the on-site detection of pesticides in agricultural foods. Trends Food Sci. (2022) 119:69–89. doi: 10.1016/j.tifs.2021.11.018

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5. Kim KH, Kabir E, Jahan SA. Exposure to pesticides and the associated human health effects. Sci Total Environ. (2017) 575:525–35. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.009

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Keywords: environmental health, pesticides, exposure, risk assessment, biological monitoring

Citation: Issa ST, Takshe AA, Alwan NH and ElBarazi I (2023) Editorial: Pesticides exposure and public health. Front. Public Health 11:1211115. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1211115

Received: 24 April 2023; Accepted: 21 June 2023;
Published: 04 July 2023.

Edited and reviewed by: Renata Sisto, National Institute for Insurance Against Accidents at Work (INAIL), Italy

Copyright © 2023 Issa, Takshe, Alwan and ElBarazi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Sahar T. Issa, c2FoYXIuaXNzYSYjeDAwMDQwO2N1ZC5hYy5hZQ==

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.